February 8, 2006

The February meeting of the Graduate Council was called to order by Dean David Wittrock, at 8:30am, February 8, 2006, in the Badlands Room of Memorial Union.

In attendance: Mark Aune, Joe Brennan, Ross Collins, Amanda Dillard, Jacob Glower, Harlene Hatterman-Valenti, Ayanava Majumdar, JoAnn Miller, Judy Pearson, Donna Terbizan, Rodney Traub, Charlene Wolf-Hall.

The minutes for the January 11, 2006 meeting were considered. Judy Pearson made a motion to approve the minutes. Harlene Hatterman-Valenti provided the second. Motion carried.

Associate Graduate Faculty/ Teaching Waiver Requests:

 The Council considered the request from the Psychology Department to grant associate graduate faculty status to Dr. Scott Engel. This approval is contingent upon his appoint as adjunct faculty. Joe Brennan made a motion to approve the request. Harlene provided the second. There was discussion regarding the fact his Ph.D. is from NDSU. Judy Pearson expressed a concern that this may happen more and more as we need to fill positions. Dr. Wittrock stated that Dr. Engel will be adjunct faculty and may or may not teach a course. Motion carried.

The Council considered the request from the HNES Department to grant a teaching waiver to Mark Strand to teach HNES 790 Seminar in Fall 2006. Donna Terbizan made a motion to approve the request. Harlene provided the second. There was discussion as to whether someone on campus could teach this course. Dr. Wittrock stated that it is not our function to approve seminar topics, only to consider the request for this person to teach. Motion carried.

Course proposals:

Donna made a motion to approve the course proposals and curriculum change proposals.Mark Aune provided the second. Motion carried.

Courses approved:

•  Psychology Curriculum Revisions and Updates

•  ME 479/679 Fluid Power Systems (cross-listing addition)

Business

Continuous Enrollment

Dr. Wittrock presented the three sections of the bulletin that reference continuous enrollment. The question is whether a student needs to continue registration after their defense as one section states students must registered as long as they are using university resources. The document presented includes proposed changes. There was discussion regarding certain situations and how to request a leave of absence. Dr. Wittrock asked a motion be made to approve the changes proposed and he will bring language regarding Leave of Absence specifics to the next meeting. Donna Terbizan made a motion to approve the proposed changes to the Leave of Absence policy. JoAnn Miller provided the second. Motion carried.

Graduate Assistant Policy:

An open forum for faculty and students regarding the Graduate Assistant Policy will be held February 21. Comments will be brought to the March meeting. The final policy will be brought to the Graduate Faculty meeting in April.

Policy 339: English Language Proficiency

 Dr. Wittrock provided proposed changes to Policy 339. The change removed specifics regarding scores so the policy need not be changed each time a test changes.

Policy 335: Code of Academic Responsibility and Conduct

There was a recent incident on campus that brought up the question of how student conduct is handled at the Graduate level. Currently issues are handled by the Dr. Wittrock. How does the Graduate Council want these issues to be dealt? Dr. Wittrock's preference is to leave the decisions to the departments and colleges. Student can file an appeal at that point. There is a concern if we receive many appeals as there is no one above the Dean which to appeal. Joe Brennan volunteered to be on a subcommittee to investigate this policy and how it related to graduate students. Jake Glower and Judy Pearson also volunteered to be on this committee.

Meeting was adjourned at 9:30 am.

Respectfully submitted,

Melissa Selders-Ortez